Walls have ears
Once again, the United States seems to be at the forefront of a worrying invasion of privacy that will no doubt spread to other democracies: the installation of audio recording in public places like buses, trains and the metro to collect evidence of terrorist activities or other criminal behavior. This is an extension of the CCTV cameras to be found on just about every street corner in our towns and cities, and pretty much means that we are now fully monitored. The powers that be cannot only see what we’re up to, they can now hear what we’re saying.
Some states are attempting to limit this latest incursion into our privacy: Maryland’s Senate has just passed a law to impose restrictions on the use of listening devices in the southern state, which had been in place since 2012 with no restrictions: 65% of buses were fitted with listening devices, and 82% of metro carriages, although not all were being used. The law means that only conversations in the driver’s cabin can be recorded, or when he or she activates the system in the event of an incident. In the case of accidents, listening devices are automatically activated. The law also imposes limits on who can listen to recorded conversations.
Anybody who has read George Orwell’s 1984, written almost 70 years ago, will remember how the novel’s hero, Winston Smith, discovered a corner of his room that was not covered by cameras installed by Big Brother and where, if he spoke quietly enough, the microphones couldn’t hear him. The point was that he knew the microphones were there, but not when they were recording, creating the uneasy sensation of being permanently under surveillance.
The point here is that it is only in states where people have organized themselves and lobbied their representatives that this surveillance has either been ended or severely curtailed. In other states, the authorities know that they have another weapon in their armory to use against anybody they find suspicious.
The next time you board a bus or metro carriage, ask yourself whether you could get used to the idea of your conversation being listened to, in the same way that we now accept being filmed everywhere we go. How does it feel to know somebody might be listening in?
(En inglés, aquí)
